What is the Uniform Deployed Parents Custody and Visitation Act?

On behalf of Law Office of Roland R. Esparza, P.C. posted in Military Family Law on Thursday, January 4, 2018.

When you or your spouse is in the military, it can make custody and visitation arrangements difficult. Texas courts and the federal government recognize these special circumstances and the challenges you will face. To help combat issues and make things easier on everyone, laws have been enacted to help clarify procedures and protect the rights of the military parent, who can sometimes feel as if his or her time with the children is hurt by his or her military status.

The National Conference of State Legislatures created the Uniform Deployed Parents Custody and Visitation Act to assist courts with visitation and custody procedures for military families. Not all states have adopted this Act, but Texas is in the group of states that has. This means judges follow the Act to help when making decisions and handling cases involving military parents because the state has added the Act to its laws.

The UDPCVA contains five main articles. Each one covers important issues that often come up when custody and visitation are decided for military families. These include procedures for when the court needs to step in, how parents can make arrangements outside of court, protection for the military parent when it comes to parenting time and acceleration of proceedings when needed due to scheduling issues.

The Act also helps to ensure military parents are not discriminated against because of their military involvement by stopping courts from using deployment as a factor when making decisions. This information is intended to be educational and is not intended as legal advice.

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